Levi Vandebunte | M/V Sea Lion | October 17th, 2026 | 12:30pm
This day had some windy conditions early in the morning, but they calmed down nicely for us just as our tour left the dock. We pointed North and travelled up San Juan Channel. We then wrapped around the top of Stuart Island and continued Northwest over the boarder and into Canadian waters. Shortly after this becoming an international tour, we arrived on scene with two Humpback Whales! The Eastern Pacific Humpback population is currently beginning to migrate back down South towards their breeding grounds in Hawaii and Mexico. This means that there are TONS of Humpbacks making their way through the Salish Sea from Alaska, British Columbia, etc. We crossed paths with an outstanding duo of Humpbacks because of this. "Strike" and "Hornet" were travelling Southeast right next to each other. We most commonly find Humpbacks by themselves while they are feeding up here, so it was super exciting to find this pair together. These two are confirmed to be at least 10 ("Hornet"), and 11 ("Strike") years old. This means that both of them are fully sexually mature. The gender of "Hornet" is still unknown, but if they are a male maybe these two will migrate down to Mexico together this winter! These whales were quite a bit more active than we normally see Humpbacks while up here in their feeding grounds. They were consistently splashing around as they surfaced right next to each other. "Strike" even threw her tail flukes up into the air just after "Hornet" surfaced to her left (see above photo)! After so many amazing surfacings and looks at these two magnificent creatures, we began to depart and said goodbye. Who knows if we will see either of these whales again this year, or if their next time being seen will be down in Mexico! From there we went South and cruised through scenic John's Pass. We then wrapped around the bottom of Spieden Island and were greeted with SO many different species. We got looks at all three foreign species that reside here (Fallow Deer, Sika Deer, and Mouflon Sheep). We also spotted three Bald Eagles, Harlequin Ducks, and Bonaparte's Gulls. There was a group of adorable Harbor Seals hauled out on the shoreline, one of which was snow white in color! As we approached the East edge of the island we spotted not one, but two Steller Sea Lions swimming around in a kelp bed off of Green Point! This was very exciting because it means that the group of Steller Sea Lions that fancy that particular location are beginning to return from their breeding grounds (rookeries) on the pacific coast! We love these pinnipeds and are always happy to see them in the San Juans. From there we continued South down San Juan Channel and returned to Friday Harbor. What an awesome autumn day spend on the Salish Sea with wildlife!
The IDs and details of the two whales that we saw are as follows:
Humpback Whales (2):
BCX1675 "Strike" (F) First seen in 2015 (Migrates from Mexico)
BCY1037 "Hornet" (?) First seen in 2016 (Migrates from Mexico)
This group of passengers were a blast to watch these amazing whales with. We thank them for joining us this afternoon!
Wanting to see more photos from our trips? Visit our SmugMug page at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/
More information about the Pacific Whale Watch Association: https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/